Pros
Some of management does seem to care about their people. The RF team at NETGEAR really are second to none, and the reason why the company still survives after this many years. They recently renovated the office. So, it's not nearly as 1980s and depressing inside as it used to be. That said, it hasn't made a huge difference to the culture of the place.
Cons
NETGEAR is a company that badly needs to change to reflect modern networking, and changes in the industry as a whole. Their product portfolio is based on pumping out new hardware without changing software. Arlo is really the bright star in the current portfolio, but they need to invest a lot more in the remainder of the business. They seem to have decided that they can't do software at all, so why even try? Long term, it's going to kill the business. Work environment is pretty terrible too. Most of the company ends up working Taiwanese hours as that's where engineering is based. So, expect to work 9-7 or 9-8 depending on when your meetings are over. Senior management gives their people little to no freedom for any autonomy. You are expected to execute based on their plan, and then you are judged solely on the results of their plan. If they chose wrong, your bonus is what's cut. Pay is pretty significantly below market rate, which is a problem given that everyone in the Bay Area is hiring. Company as a whole is not data driven either. Management makes product decisions based on gut feeling, rather than data. This leads to some overly risky moves in areas and not making any moves in others (see: software). Meetings at NETGEAR are hilarious. Everyone gets massive amounts of email (200+ messages when you come in every morning). So, no one actually has any time to do anything other than check email. Meetings are usually a bunch of people sitting around a table checking their email not listening to the one person talking. Also, they love meetings. So, you can't really get anything done if you pay attention in meetings anyways. Work load is pretty high as well. You end up doing 3-4 peoples jobs just to keep the lights on, and it never ends.
